According to data from Statista, the gambling industry currently has a market size of 59 billion dollars.
And it is estimated that it will grow twice its size in the next few years, reaching a value of 92.9 billion by 2023.
With its current size and constant growth, the gambling industry presents an excellent opportunity for all those who decide to start a betting business, that is, to become a bookie.
But how to be a bookie?
To help everyone who wants to take the step and enter the adventure of starting a betting business, we have prepared this detailed guide.
In this guide we will address the following topics:
1. Demystifying the bookies
2. Knowledge and experience necessary to be a bookie
3. Initial investment
4. Tools
5. Getting your first clients
6. General tips to be a great bookie
Demystifying the bookies
For many years the gambling industry has had a bad name. The collective imagination associates bookies with crime, the mafia, and extortion.
This is largely due to how various films and series have portrayed the image of bookies.
Although there was a time when bookies had to operate in the shadows, and betting businesses were established outside the law.
Nowadays, thanks to the legalization of gambling in the USA, Colombia, Costa Rica, and many European countries, anyone can launch a 100% legal offshore betting business.
Today’s bookies are not criminals, nor are gangsters; they are mostly decent people, businessmen, and entrepreneurs trying to earn an honest living like anyone else.
Knowledge and experiences necessary to be a bookie
Having clarified the fact that bookies are not criminals. Let’s analyze the knowledge necessary to be a bookie.
The knowledge is divide into three main areas: sports, betting, and business.
Sports: Any bookie must know about sports, but he does not necessarily have to be an inveterate fanatic.
Bookies must be aware of the most important games and events, know who are the key players and the most popular teams.
Betting: The bookie must understand the basics of betting or at least have a clear notion of how sports betting works.
Business: By becoming a bookie, you are becoming an entrepreneur in the betting industry.
Thus, it is necessary to have basic knowledge of running a business, how to market it, and how to manage finances.
If you do not have all the knowledge or do not feel capable enough in any of the areas, this does not mean that you should take a step back and give up being a bookie.
Many online resources will help you learn what you need, and will help you improve as a bookie.
If you study and applie the knowledge you can grow your betting business and be profitable.
Initial investment
Another great advantage of the betting industry is that you can start a business with little capital.
Unlike other business types that would cost you around $ 20,000 to $ 50,000 to start, you can begin a gambling site with $ 5,000 to $ 10,000.
Like any business, the more capital you have at the beginning, the easier it will be to establish your business.
With a larger capital, you can grow much faster, so you will be able to see greater profits in a short time.
But if you don’t have a lot of money, this is not a problem. Most of the initial capital will be used to build your bankroll.
The bankroll is the money that the bookie has available to pay the bets to the winning bettors if two situations happend: bets went on one side; or if, for some reason, a betting line did not move the right way allowing some bettors to take advantage of the situation.
The larger the bankroll the bookie has, the higher the bets he will accept, and he can serve a more significant number of players.
Tools
The bookie doesn’t need to invest a lot of money on tools for the business.
The bookie just needs to choose a good Pay Per Head provider, that has all the infrastructure and staff he needs.
If you have questions about what a Pay Per Head is, we recommend you visit this post.
With a good Pay Per Head provider, the bookie will not have to worry about anything.
And, the only thing that the bookie must do is learn to correctly use all the tools and services that the Per Head company will provide.
With these tools, the bookie will be able to manage his betting business effectively and efficiently.
Through a Pay Per Head provider, the bookie can start operating his betting business in less than 48 hours after creating an account with the Per Head company.
As a result, if the bookie already has the necessary knowledge in sports, betting, and business and also has the required initial capital, he can start his betting business almost immediately.
Get the first customers
Once the bookie has everything set up and ready with the Pay Per Head Provider, it is time to start and find the first customers for the betting site.
We recommend bookies to start with their close circle of friends, family, and colleagues from work or university.
It is best to make a list either by hand or on a spreadsheet and place the names of the people in your close circle that you know may be interested in gambling.
When you have the complete list, send them a message or when you have the opportunity to see them face-to-face pitch your betting site.
If you made your list in a spreadsheet, it would allow you to keep track of who you have contacted.
And you can keep a record of who has not shown interest in your betting business, and who has already registered an account.
Once you are done with your close circle, it is best to expand your search through referrals.
Ask your current customers to refer acquaintances to register on your betting site.
You can offer them some incentives for each referral that creates an account on your betting site.
Another great place to find your first customers is the sports bars in your city.
Visit them during games or major sporting events, and you are sure to leave with two or three new clients.
The ideal customer for your new gambling site is casual gamblers.
Casual gamblers bet about $ 50 to $ 100 per game. This type of bettor can lose $ 3,000 to $ 4,000 in a single NBA or NFL season.
With around 100-200 active casual bettors during a season, your betting site will perform very well.
And you can produce profits of between $ 100,000 to $ 250,000, depending on how much betting you can handle.
Tips to be a good bookie
As we mentioned in this guide, being a bookie is being an entrepreneur. Thus, you must establish some routines and practices that allow you to manage the business in the best way, for example:
Learn all about reports
Reputable Pay Per Head providers gives bookies access to a robust reporting tool.
Through this tool, the bookie can obtain real-time information about everything that happens on the betting site.
Bookies must learn to use this tool properly and correctly interpret the information in each report.
If used correctly, this information will help the bookie make the best decisions for his business such as when to set betting limits, players to let go, among other data that will allow him to have a profitable betting business.
Pay your players on time
The most important rule that every bookie must follow is this.
Paying players on time brings significant benefits to the betting business, building credibility, and a good reputation.
Also, it is very likely that once the player receives his payment, he will bet all or a large part of that money again.
Thus generating a very beneficial cash flow for the business.
Don’t mix business money
If you want to have a successful business with healthy finances, we recommend that you never mix money from your gambling business with money from your personal expenses.
The best thing is to have separate accounts. Remember that not all the money that enters your betting business is your profit.
You must wait to know how much money you will have to pay to the bettors who won, and until then, you can know how much profit you have left.
It is also recommended that you reinvest some of the profits back to the business to grow the bankroll.
By doing this, you can take more and large bets, which will leave you a better profit in the medium term.
Being a bookie takes dedication and work. But when done correctly and with a good Pay Per Head provider, the task is not complicated.
With a few hours of work per day, you can make big profits.
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